Talian Ostrider
Author Contact Information FFXIV: Talian Ostrider Discord: Justice#0510 Basic Information Full name: Talian Alexander Ostrider Pronunciation: Tah-Lee-uhn AE-luhg-zAEn-d-er OS-s-t-r-AY-d-er Nicknames: The Emerald Dragoon, The Redeemed, The Impaler, The Black Knight, The Crowing Species: Half-Garlean/Half-Ishgardian Hyur Gender: Male Age: Thirty-three Nameday: 22nd Sun of the 2nd Umbral Moon (4/21) Sexuality: Bisexual, leans towards Heterosexual Nationality: Ishgardian Religion: Fervently worships Halone and Rhalgr, and follows the teachings of Enchiridion loosely. Languages: Eorzean Relationship Status: Single Physical Appearance Height: 6'2 Weight: 220 lbs. Figure/build: Talian is a very towering man, standing right at six feet and two inches tall, and has a muscular, athletic frame that he carriers with confidence and poise. Hair: Graying light black, shoulder length around the sides and back. Eye color: Right-Green/Left-White(Blind) Skin Color: Tan White Tattoos: Tribal full sleeve on right arm. Piercings: Two on each ear. Scars/Distinguishing features: A vertical scar extends down Talian's face and over his left eye as well as horizontal scars going across his face and right cheek. His torso and arms are also littered with scars, no doubt a remnant of his time at war. Preferred Style of Clothing: In battle/Medium Armor. Out of Battle/Fancy or Comfortable clothes. Health Smoker: Casually smokes a pipe. Drinker: Yes, Talian has quite the tolerance as well. Recreational Drug User: No Any physical ailments/illnesses/disabilities: None Any medication regularly taken: None Skills Talents/Skills: Talian is a jack-of-all-trades for the most part. He normally picks up anything he sets his mind to relatively quickly, especially if has someone to watch. This allows him to be a bit of a weapons-master, fluent with most bladed weapons. Capable to ride Chocobos: Yes. Fighting Style: Talian has come to be a very slow and methodical fighter, often looking for cracks or openings in his opponents defenses. This is a far cry from the way he used to be. At one time, he was an extremely aggressive combatant, though he can still revert back to that from time to time if pushed, he struggles daily to keep that part of himself buried. The Echo: The Power to Transcend Time Weapon of choice: He is most at home with a Lance in his hand, but can use most bladed weapons, and even a few ranged weapons very well. Weaknesses in combat: Almost zero magic affinity, due to him being half Garlean, he has little connection with the Aether, save for his white magic he gains from his Holy Dragoon Soul Crystal. Also, he can get a bit reckless when pushed into his aggressive fighting style. Strengths in combat: Almost peerless when it comes to Lances or other bladed weapons. Having almost no ability to use magic has allowed him to concentrate primarily on such weapons, making him one of the best Weapon-Masters in Eorzea. He is also very officiant in picking apart the enemies defenses, exploiting cracks, and identifying weaknesses. Personality Traits Personality: On the surface, Talian seems to be a very confident and quiet man. He carries himself in a very elegant manner; standing upright with a proud stride to his step. He rarely talks to strangers unless it is a young, attractive catch, that he intends to win into his bed with honeyed words. He can occasionally be a bit full of himself and will sometimes talk down to those he believes beneath him. Though he carries himself this way, he in not antisocial. When he makes friends, he loves and cares for them deeply. He truly opens up when around his friends, revealing an outgoing and humorous personality that he keeps hidden from most. He truly holds the ones he cares for close, for he knows how fleeting life can be in these dark times. However, Talian relishes in the taste of battle. He gets so much pleasure out of it that some even call him a masochist; thoroughly enjoying every wound he takes. Normally, he fights in a very calm and disciplined way but that changes, when pushed to his limits, to be a very unpredictable, berserk fighting style. In this state, he loses most sense of discipline and goes into a frenzy of strikes that are intended to throw off even the most poised of fighters. Talian once had a nasty reputation of being a very cruel man. During his time at war he garnered such nicknames as “The Impaler” and “The Black Knight” due to his nastiness in battle. He has since grown to be a much more compassionate person with a good heart. Even still, however, his cruelty can still occasionally surface, especially once pushed to his limits in battle. Hobbies, Likes, and Dislikes: Talian has many hobbies and interests, however, he enjoys reading over all others. His favorite books are “The Cursed Iron Fist” and “The God-Facade” by his favorite author, Xaladine Alimontez. His favorite foods are meat and seafood, and he loves to drink red wine. He hates the Garlean Empire with every fiber of his being, and wants nothing more than their total defeat. He also dislikes coffee, and bitter food and drink. Favorite color: Green History Birth of a Mongrel Talian Alexander Ostrider was a Hyur born in his family home in Ishgard on the 22nd Sun of the 2nd Umbral Moon during the 1,546th year of the Sixth Astral Era, the first child of Alexander Thomas Ostrider and Sara rem Notros-Ostrider. He was raised by his family in a very middle class home in the residential district of Ishgard. He had a decently normal childhood for the most part and his younger brother, Richter, was born when Talian was two years old. Talian would grow to be very close to his younger brother, and would become the unspoken leader of a close-knit group of friends, chief among them being the younger Haurchefant Greystone. This group of young children would get into a number of shenanigans in their early years but would all grow into upstanding gentlemen each in their own regards. Talian's father, Alexander, would begin training both Talian and his brother at a very young age in the ways of the lance, being a Dragoon himself. Their mother Sara also trained them in various different combat styles, but Talian always leaned more towards the lance. When he was ten, he was given a Chocobo chick that he would name Ambellina. He would continue to raise Ambellina throughout his life. When Talian was thirteen years old a group of assassins broke into their family home in Ishgard and attacked his mother and father. Alexander and Sara fought off the assassins best they could, but were soon overtaken my the sheer number of assailants. Talian and Richter were ripped from their home by the mysterious attackers, being forced to watch their parents fight a losing battle as they were stolen away, which would be their final time seeing their parents. It was later revealed to them that their kidnappers had been the Garlean Empire, and the reason for the attack was because their mother, Sara, was a Garlean, being a Primus pilus in the Garlean military. She had defected to The Holy See of Ishgard fifteen years prior when she decided to fight against the Garlean Empire and their tyrannical rule. She had met Alexander, and had ran off with him to Ishgard to try and start a family. The Garlean Empire was not happy about this and, after finally tracking them down, had sent the group of assassins to deal with the defector. Upon discovering that Sara had given birth to two sons, the Garleans decided to take them back to Garlemald, where they would attempt to bend their wills to force them to fight for the Garlean Empire. Talian and Richter would remain in Garlemald for over two years, were they were subject to multiple forms of torture and mind-altering techniques. Eventually, however, Talian and Richter managed to escape their imprisonment and slowly made their way back to Ishgard. The Path of the Dragoon At the age of sixteen, the half Ishgardian, half Garlean, Talian, alongside his younger brother Richter, had finally made it back to The Holy See of Ishgard, where they both almost immediately joined the ranks of the Ishgardian military. Talian signed up to take the Dragoon trials, while Richter attempted to join the knights of Ishgard proper. Though they were both heavily scrutinized due to their connection to the Garlean Empire, they were both very successful in their individual trials, Talian being one of only three in his squad of trainees to pass the trials, and Richter becoming a Paladin and one of the youngest soldiers in Ishgardian history to obtain Knighthood. It was around this time that Talian had a dream one night of stars falling across the realm, and would later find out that this vision was something shared by all who possessed the Echo. Talian and Richter both would make quick names for themselves in the Dragonsong War due to their ferocity and skill in battle. Talian especially was well known for the cruelty he showed in battle, going as far as ripping wings off of dragons and tearing their scales off. Talian and Richter would spend the next few years of their lives fighting in the Dragonsong War, up until Talian was Twenty-Two. Around this time Talian and Richter began to have a falling out due to Richter disagreeing with Talian's plan to leave Ishgard and go to Ul' dah. Talian had grown sick of just fighting in the Dragonsong War, and wanted to take the fight directly to the Garlean Empire. Richter warned Talian that his vengeance had blinded him to the true problems that plagued the world. Not being able to agree, Talian and Richter parted ways for the first time in their lives. Talian officially resigned from the Ishgardian military before moving to Ul' dah. Talian managed to snag himself a small apartment in the Goblet and began working alongside the various mercenaries that made up the bulk of Ul' dah's military at the time. He would continue to fight for Ul' dah for years to come, leading up to him joining the Immortal Flames when they were formed just before the Calamity. The Calamity Talian was twenty-six when the Calamity ravaged the world. Fighting in The Battle of Carteneau himself, Talian witnessed first hand the destruction that the descending Dalamud had brought with it. Barely surviving the destruction that ravaged the world due to a White Mage he had formed a friendship with teleporting him to safety, Talian found himself in the middle of Lower La Noscea, badly wounded, with a lot of damage to the left side of his face, mostly to the eye. The destruction was so widespread that even a place this far away from the battle had been devastated from the carnage. Alone and badly wounded, Talian began to try and quickly make his way back to Ul' dah, however, he realized that if he didn't quickly try and heal his damaged eyed, he would permanently lose sight in it. He decided to head to Limsa Lominsa to get help, it was at this time however, that he ran into a young female Miqo'te named Star. The poor girl was badly hurt and was all alone in the middle of the destruction. Talian had a choice to make, he could make it to Limsa in time to get his eye healed if he went alone, but this poor girl wouldn't make it if he did. Seeing this girl in the shape see was in, Talian made his choice. He scooped Star up and, even though he was broken and bleeding, carried her to Limsa to be treated. They successfully made it to Limsa, where medics immediately went to work trying to heal them both. They would both pull through well, but Talian would forever lose sight in his left eye. After this point, Talian and Star would grow very close. She returned to Ul' dah with him, where they both worked on the restoration of the city in the aftermath of the Calamity. Self Exile They would stay in Ul' dah for a few years before Talian decided to return to Ishgard. He had a lot on his mind since everything had happened, and he had realized that Richter had been right, and that the hate he held for the Garleans had blinded him to the real problems in the world, a statement that had made itself literal. Upon arriving in Ishgard with Star with him, he learned from his good, old friend Haurchefant, that his brother had been lost in the Dravanian Wilderness and hadn't been seen in several months. Feeling intense guilt due to his last time seeing Richter being seven years prior during their argument, Talian forced himself into exile, without saying a word to anyone else, in the Dravanian Wilderness. He would then spend the next two years trying to right the wrongs he had committed, as well as try and find his brother. It is unknown to everyone but Talian what exactly happened out in the wilderness, but he was still alone when he returned two years later, and he had changed. Not quite the Dragoon he had once been, he now held a new power. The End of the Dragonsong War Upon returning to Ishgard, he would reunite with Star, who in the two years he had been gone had grown to be a strong, independent woman. Talian also learned that during his absence, his good friend Haurchefant had been struck down in battle. Though he missed the event that took his friends life by mere days, he still joined the raid on the Singularity Reactor, where alongside the Warrior of Light, among others, they struck down Archbishop Thordan VII, as well as his Heavens' Ward. During the battle, it would be Talian who would score the fatal blow on Ser Zephirin de Valhourdin, Haurchefant's killer, avenging his old friend. After this, he was offered the chance to return to his old post with the Dragoons, an offer which he turned down, believing his skills would be better utilized while not tied to any nation officially, much like the Warrior of Light. Even so, he was officially knighted, and given free reign to come and go from Ishgard as he pleased. In the following months he would begin to quickly make a few new friends, help bring an end to the Dragonsong War, and continue to work to fight against the Garlean Empire. However, though he still hated them, he no longer fought them due to a vendetta, he now fought them to try and make the world a better place for all. Still concerned about the hate and pain that was still in his heart, he also began training in the ways of the Paladin and Monk, trying to find other paths through which he could cleanse his heart. Learning of all of the work the Warrior of Light had done during his absence, he also looked to try and come up with a better way to combat the Garlean Empire, and he felt that his new friends might just be the solution. The Crowing Takes Flight After an few months, Talian would up and vanish once more from Eorzea. This time, he headed for the Far East, finding the opportunity aboard a small trading vessel en route to Kugane. He had heard much of the different paths of enlightenment that Othard was famous for, and hoped to finally find a cure for his hatred there. He would slowly but surely make his way from Kugane to Othard, learning of the path of the Samurai along the way. Being naturally gifted with bladed weapons, he would pick up the trade very quickly. Going by the name Kirin Lowstar while in Othard, to better hide himself from the Garlean menace that was ever present, he would begin to make the name for himself for his frequent attacks on criminals, ne'er-do-wells, and even Garlean patrols. Usually leaving none alive after his attacks, locals began to refer to him as, "The Crowing", largely due to his dark hair and attire, and also due to the old Doman saying; "A crow on the thatch, soon death lifts the latch.". He would continue to make a name for himself for about six months, occasionally even working alongside the Confederacy, the Sekiseigumi, and the Doman Liberation Front. It was around this time that he began to receive word that many from Eorzea had begun to make the trek East as well, and the war with the Garleans would begin once more in full force. Relationships Other's OCs Star Amethysta (Rousseau) Star is one of Talian's closest acquaintances, with him holding her on a higher pedestal than any one else. He sees her almost as a father would see a daughter, and would give just about anything for her. He knows the feelings she once held for him, and is sad he couldn't return those feelings, though he believes she may have finally gotten past her teenage crush. Because of how much he cares for her, she also can annoy him easier than anyone else. He often thinks her decisions are foolish and poorly thought out, but he also understands that she is her own woman now, and needs to be able to make those decisions herself. He is also one of the only people to know her real full name, but she is actually unaware of this fact. Alexis McCallister Alex is one of the first people Talian was able to get close to after returning from his self exile. He loves her get up and go attitude, and respects her skills with the blade tremendously. He even thinks of her almost as a teacher of sorts, undoubtedly due to her teaching him much of the Paladin's style and how to Half-Sword. They also seem to have a very similar opinion on most organized Orders, who claim to be there for the little man, knowing the truth about how much corruption most groups of the like usually hide within their ranks. Natalia Vhecht Talian believes Nat to be a very kindred spirit. Possibly due to being close in age, them having similar attitudes and mannerisms, or perhaps due to both of them hating the Garlean Empire with a similar passion. Whatever it is, it draws Talian in. He has never truly felt at ease with someone as quickly as he has with Natalia. He believes her a true confidant, even though he knows neither really like to talk about their past. She is the first person, to not already know, that he has ever felt comfortable enough with to tell the truth about his heritage, though he does fear her possible reaction, due to her hate of the Garlean Empire. Much like Alexis, Talian thinks of Nat also as a teacher of sorts, training him a good bit in the art of unarmed combat. A'vette Rayoh Talian doesn't know much about A'vette. He has only met her a few times, and each time has just been briefly. She is Alexis' significant offer, and that's really all Talian needs to know. If she is good enough for Alex, she is good enough to Tali. She seems to love Alex tremendously, always referring to her with pet names and constantly being by her side. She seems to have her head in the clouds a bit, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Tali looks forward to learning more about A'vette in the future. Nola Raknea Talian and Nola's relationship has been one strictly of business, with just a bit of fun thrown in. They met through Momodi, who told Nola that Talian could hunt anything she needed for her alchemy. They met, negotiated prices, and even threw in a friendly wager. Talian would win out on the wager, for the most part, and the two seemed to hit it off decently well. Talian finds Nola extremely intriguing, and hopes to do more work for her soon, and maybe even get to know her a bit in a more friendly way. Kallera Etoile Talian's time around Kallera has been very short, but also very eventful. Tali's first impression of Kall was very poor, due heavily in part with her attacking him due to a big misunderstanding. However, he knew her and Star were very close, and upon finding out the truth about the assault, has come to forgive Kall for the attack. He still doesn't know much about Kallera, but at the moment, he believes her to be a bit reckless and easy to jump into situations she knows little about, but he can tell her heart is in the right place. Farfalla Rousseau Talian has had very little interaction with Farfalla, save for their one meeting. Farf is Star's current significant other, so that immediately makes Tali judge him a little more harshly than others. Talian believes Farf to be a bit of a child in both physique and mentality, but that is probably just because Farf is actually decently young. Talian looks foward to getting to know him a bit more, to see whatever it is that Star sees in him. Kisumi Mimsy Talian knows next to nothing about Kisumi, they have only met the once, and that experience was so convoluted, you could say that they have never really truly met. His first impression was poor, due to her being associated with someone he thought was a terrorist, but that misunderstanding was dealt with. Talian can really draw no conclusions on her personality, in fact, he's not even sure he's even heard her voice, but she is a friend of Stars, so he will give her the benefit of the doubt. Codec Icyobi Much like Kisumi, Talian knows little of Codec, save for a very bad first impression. The two met with Talian under the impression that Codec was a terrorist, which was only made more believable when Codec himself falsely confirmed this. After the convoluted mess was dealt with, Star filled Talian in on a bit more about Codec, revealing that he wasn't actually a terrorist and that it was all a ploy. Talian hasn't met Codec since that day, but Star did tell him more about the man. Talian's opinion, as it sits, is that Codec seems to be a bit dimwitted, and has put someone he cares about very much in a lot of danger, but his intentions appear to be pure. Only time will tell if this is a proper analysis. NPCs Lord Haurchefant Greystone Ser Aymeric de Borel Mimodi Modi The Scions of the Seventh Dawn The Ishgardian Military The Immortal Flames The Doman Liberation Front The Confederacy The Sekiseigumi